No Simple Matter
by Rhianwen
Summary: Sure, he's scared stupid, but she's right there, and he's right here, and the ring's in his pocket, so he might as well. And anyway, if he doesn't do it, Anita will kill him. HisamiTohru, background AnitaJunior.


No Simple Matter

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Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, and I'm pretty sure the guy who does would facepalm that this Rhianwen psycho is missing the point of an action anime and writing fluff yet again.

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Summary: Sure, he's scared stupid, but she's right there, and he's right here, and the ring's in his pocket, so he might as well. And anyway, if he doesn't do it, Anita will kill him. A gift-fic for Cal Reflector. Hisami/Tohru, background Anita/Junior. If you dislike these, please exercise common sense and skip this story.

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The day was beautiful and tranquil, early in spring, when the world was just beginning to wake up from its long winter slumber, sweet as a rosy, dimpled little child still drowsy but eager for fun.

The midmorning sunlight was warm and pale, the scent of flowers wafting in the breeze, and the atmosphere within the little apartment one of pleasant bustle and excitement as one young married couple, along with a troop of their closest friends and family, went about the task of decorating and arranging.

And amid this scene of peaceful happiness, one young man was deeply in the grip of a bad case of nerves, palms damp and icy, heart pounding madly.

"So, did you do it yet?" the newly-made Mrs. Makuhari demanded under her breath.

"Not yet," Tohru replied, going for casual and betrayed badly by the tremble in his voice.

Anita made an impatient noise.

"Well, then, get out there and do it," she ordered. "I can't keep everyone in the kitchen all day."

Tohru peeked around the corner and into the living room, and whipped back around as his eyes lit on the cause of his current state of terror: a slim, curvy young lady with beautiful dark blue eyes, long glossy dark hair, and a sweet smile that could make the whole world feel like spring in the middle of winter.

He sighed. This was why he left the poetry to her. Even if she didn't write much poetry.

Well, this was why he left poetry to the poets, then.

The dark-haired young man caught Anita's arm as she tried to shove him out of the kitchen, and steered her away from the doorway.

"Look, Anita, I appreciate the offer, but maybe I should just do it later," he muttered.

The pink-haired lass made a noise half-growl and half-groan, but complete annoyance.

"You're not doing it later! You've been carrying that ring around for three months already!"

"Alright, you two, what's going on over there?" Nenene demanded sternly from the other side of the kitchen, where the rest of the crowd was gathered, crammed either around the kitchen table or perched on the counter.

"Tohru's being a coward," Anita huffed, even as she shoved him towards the doorway again amid the laughter of three Paper Masters, an author, her newly-acquired mother-in-law, and her husband of _three whole weeks now_. With that kind of marital experience, Anita considered herself entirely justified in dictating the romantic lives of others, particularly when they seemed incapable of doing it themselves. "Now, go!"

"Okay, fine!" Tohru exclaimed, hurrying away as the glint in her eye grew dangerous.

His heart rate, which had just begun to slow to almost healthy, sped right back up again as he approached the girl seated on the floor, threading a set of beautiful pale blue curtains – her own wedding gift to her best friend – onto a curtain rod.

"Hi, Tohru," she greeted warmly.

"H--hi, Hisami," he returned amid a few vocal cracks, his hand tightening around the little jewelry box in his jacket pocket. He crouched next to her and delivered a swift kiss on the cheek. "Um, Hisami? Will you..." A long pause, as his courage drained out with a nearly audible rush. "Will you...uh, pass me that paint stick?"

With a quick nod, she picked up the paint stick, liberally spattered with the bright yellow paint Michelle had insisted upon for the kitchen, much to both Junior and Anita's consternation, and handed it to him, beaming pleasantly.

"Thanks," he said with a weak smile, already slinking back to the kitchen in defeat.

"So, did you do it?" Anita demanded, arms crossed, nose inches from his, the second he passed the threshold.

"No," he sighed.

"Ugh," Anita noted curiously, already spinning him back around again and applying some gentle pressure.

"Argh!" Tohru rejoined jovially as he stumbled out of the kitchen.

Righting himself and glaring back over his shoulder at Anita and a grinning - well, almost smiling - Junior, he started towards Hisami again.

"Is something wrong, Tohru?" that same dark-haired maiden asked concernedly, blinking wide blue eyes up at him.

He cleared his throat, mouth suddenly dry again.

"Hisami," he began very intensely, kneeling swiftly and taking her hand. "Would you..." Once again, his courage left him in a sudden rush. "Would you like a coffee or a sandwich or something? I'm just running out to the store."

From the kitchen drifted a howl of frustration sounding distinctly like Anita.

Hisami jumped slightly, then smiled sweetly at her boyfriend.

"No, thank-you. I still have some of my milkshake from earlier."

"Oh, okay," he agreed with a little laugh, before starting back to the kitchen once more.

"You still didn't do it," Anita pointed out through gritted teeth. "What's your problem, anyway?"

"It's kind of nerve-wracking," Tohru replied defensively. "It's not just like asking, _will you go to a movie with me_, or something. I'm asking her to spend the rest of her life with me!"

Anita eyed him stonily.

"It's not _that_ hard. I did it, and I'm still alive."

Tohru laughed.

"The way Junior told it, you just sort of told him you guys were getting married, and if he didn't show up that day you'd pound him."

"Junior!" Anita exclaimed, bright red, wheeling furiously on her husband.

"What? I didn't tell him that," Junior protested, looking up from his discussion with Maggie on the grave matter of whether to stack the bowls or the plates in the cupboard closer to the sink.

"Yeah, actually, he didn't; I just kind of took a guess," Tohru grinned. "It sounded like you."

"Oh, shut up and get back out there," Anita pouted.

And so, heart lighter than it had been all day by sheer virtue of returning a little of the torment Anita had been heaping on him since she'd found out he meant to propose to her best friend, Tohru started back out into the living room.

_Okay, you've gotta do it now,_ he admonished himself. _Hisami's going to start wondering why everyone else is slacking off while she's working._

"You're back already?" Hisami called, surprised, as he approached.

"I wasn't really all that hungry," he shrugged. "Actually, there's something else I need to ask you."

She watched him, curious and expectant. His hand tightened again around the ring box in his pocket.

"Will you, uh..." He groaned inwardly, nearly able to feel at least five sets of curious eyes on him. _Wimp._ "Will you come with me this weekend and help me pick out a birthday gift for my mother?"

Hisami frowned.

"Tohru, your mother's birthday isn't for seven months," she pointed out.

He winced, inwardly cursing himself for momentarily forgetting his childhood pal-turned-girlfriend's impeccable memory.

"Well, uh, I thought I'd get it done ahead of time this year, so I don't end up settling for something at the last minute," he explained, wincing again as her expression grew slightly suspicious.

She was saved the trouble of questioning him, however, as the weather turned abruptly stormy, signalling the arrival of Hurricane Anita.

"Gragh!" that same young lady noted pleasantly, bursting from the kitchen. "Will you just propose already?"

Hisami grew briefly pale, then flushed brightly pink.

"P-propose?" she murmured, eyes flitting from Anita to a dismayed Tohru. "You were trying to propose?"

He gave her a pleading look.

"Would you say yes if I was?"

She hid her face in her hands, making it very easy for a moment to believe that she had spent the majority of her childhood as _the shy one,_ developing as she grew into the gentle, sensitive nature that drew in friends with an almost magnetic force.

"I think so."

With a nervous laugh, he pulled the box from his pocket, flipped it open, and presented it to her.

"Okay; will you?"

"Will she what, Tohru?" Anita asked through gritted teeth, giving him a swat in the back of the head.

He gave a tiny sigh of surrender.

"Will you marry me, Hisami?"

Sporting a similar shade of bright red as the young man kneeling in front of her, Hisami nodded vigorously, trying not to smile too widely as he took her hand gently and slipped the ring onto her finger.

Quite unaware of Anita nodding her satisfaction approximately a foot and a half away, or the good-natured cheers of her best friend's extended family from the kitchen, the dark-haired girl caught her future husband in a tight hug.

"Geez," Anita fumed, failing utterly to fight back a grin as she slipped back into the kitchen to join the party and give the happily snuggling couple a moment. "For a minute there, I thought I was gonna have to get pushy."

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End Notes: Aaaaaand, that's that. Please don't hurt me!

Right; I'll just be over there, under my flame-retardant blanket, emerging occasionally with a marshmallow on a skewer. I'm hungry...


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